Wahpeton Daily News – submitted by the Red River Area Sportsmen’s Club
Congratulations go out to Hudson Miller. Not long ago, Hudson participated in the 2023 Red River Area Sportsmen’s Club’s Youth Pheasant Hunt. Hudson’s pheasant was selected out of the birds that were harvested to be mounted. As you can see by the picture, it is a fine-looking bird. Local taxidermist Jeff Schwartz mounted the bird and he also covered half of the cost, with the sportsman’s club covering the remaining.
The annual Youth Pheasant Hunt was held on Sept. 30, 2023, which coincided with the North Dakota Game & Fish Department’s youth pheasant hunting season dates. The sportsmen’s club has an active working partnership with landowners Chuck and Chari Haus of rural Hankinson, North Dakota, and it was a privilege for the club to bring 15 young hunters to the Haus’ property for this much anticipated hunt.
The day started with a safety meeting, overview of the property, demonstrations on how to hunt with dogs, and instruction for the hunters and mentors as to how the day would progress. All the hunters had opportunities to harvest birds and had fun watching the dogs as they worked the cover.
Following the hunt, there was a demonstration of the techniques of cleaning the birds. The hunters, mentors, parents and volunteers were served a pancake and sausage breakfast.
Many individuals and businesses were also partners with the sportsmen’s club to insure this was a fun day for the hunters, and their contributions need to be recognized. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for assisting with the purchasing of shells, Dean Belmore of Belmore and Sons for donating a shotgun to the event, (won by McKenna Manock following a drawing from the names on the attendance roster), Steve Manock of Manock Meats in Great Bend, North Dakota, for donating the sausage for the breakfast. Brad Glarum from the Richland Renegade Tom’s chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation brought a number of prizes that were handed out to all the hunters and Corteva for supplying the blaze orange caps for all the hunters. Additionally, the Mooreton Sportsman’s Club opened the Joe Pikarski Trap Range the day before the actual hunt so the hunters could get in some practice.
A big thank you goes to the Red River Area Sportsmen’s Club for planning and scheduling the event, to club member Mark Althoff who was the event chairperson, to the club members that volunteered to assist with the hunt and cooking the breakfast. It was a pleasure to have Chuck and Cheri Haus host the annual youth hunt and our appreciation goes to the many mentors and parents that helped the hunters have a fun and successful day. Because of the support this hunt receives from the local community, it is offered to the hunters at no cost.
Plans are in the works for the 2024 Youth Pheasant Hunt, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 5, 2024. Keep watch on the www.rrasc.net website for details.